I got my FM transmitter for my PSP. It's pretty cool! Very useful in my car. I'm way to cheap to upgrade my state of the art tape deck. I need new speakers too, ones blown out but I'm too cheap to fix that too. Maybe I will now that I've actually got a cheap source of jams. I'm about to order an 8gb memory stick. They're only $40 over on www.newegg.com which is a pretty amazing price if you ask me. I guess I could wait a year and get 16gb for around the same price.

I also registered a Japanese PSN account. For some reason the Yakuza 3 demo wouldn't work. It would play a cutscene then go to a loading screen then freeze there forever. Pain in the ass. So I just deleted it. I played the Japanese demo for MGS4, the voices are cool. I've ordered a PSN card from www.play-asia.com when I get that in the mail I'm going to download MGS. Which is another reason I want the 8gb memory stick. As things are I don't have enough memory for my rockin tunes and games. So I can't wait to play MGS on my PSP and in a different language. Also being able to play MGS without using discs will be nice, I play through that game all the damn time so it'll save me SEVERAL seconds.

Then in a few more paychecks I'm going to get a ps2 flip top and a copy of swap magic from this Canadian website. That's another $40. The plan there is I'm going to order MGS2 and MGS3 from Japan. Then I'll work on collecting all the Japanese MGS games. Since I don't want to mod a ps1 to play imports I'll settle for the PSN version. Then I'll get all the PS2 MGS games. I'm not sure about MGS2. I don't know if I want to get both MGS2SOL and MGS2:S. MGS2:S has the English dub then your choice of English or Japanese subtitles. I should just get both to try and have the most complete collection possible hahaha. Then the PSP and PS3 MGS games have no region coding so no need to mod anything there.

I just registered a Japanese PSN account to download some demos, as well as Ad Hoc party. My main reason for creating the account though is to download Metal Gear Solid. I was thinking my MGS collection is pretty decent. Having all the American release Metal Gear games, but what could make it better? I know having all the Japanese MGS games! So instead of modding a ps1 and buying the discs for MGS I decided I'd cop out and just get the PSN version, with the benefit of being able to play it on my PSP. Which is totally bad ass! Then I will however mod my Slim PS2 to play Japanese games and buy MGS2 Sons of Liberty or Substance (Substance has the English dub so that's conveniant, but if I'm going for the Japanese-ness of it I just might get Sons of Liberty) and MGS3. Then importing MGS4 is easy because there's no region code on the PS3. About damn time game companies wisened up.

I stopped by the used game store and picked up a Sega CD game I'd been eying. I couldn't obtain it in a more dubious fashion so I bought it for $5 bucks. Not so bad. I really liked Wing Commander III on PS1. I was so hooked I actually overheated my playstation. It was the only time it ever happened. Plus I remember playing the SNES version years ago, which I also saw there for $2 more. Weird. So now I actually have a real Sega CD game. Complete with case and well worn manual. Whoever owned it originally must have loved this game. The register man commented "Wing Commander! Good game!" All good signs.

I just ordered an FM transmitter for my PSP. I do use my PSP in my car to listen to MP3's quite a bit. Even with headphones it's hard to hear it while drivng highway speeds. There's some mixed views about this product but overall it seems like most people are pretty happy with it so I figure I'll buy one and give it a shot. After shipping and everything it was $9, not to bad. I'm really getting into my PSP again. I still need to get that God of War game, I can't believe I still don't have it.

PSP is one of those systems that I love it for all its features but I'm just not to happy with the games. I'd be crazy about it if the Metal Gear Solid games were handled better. The controlls are ass. When Snake Eater came out people bitched about the lack of camera control, I dealt with it but agreed that a camera control would help. Now with two analog sticks that makes a ton of sense. They went and used the same engine on the PSP which has one analog nub which sucks, real hard. They should have used the original Snake Eater engine and planned the game to use that accordingly for the PSP game as you have no analog sticks let alone two. Using the D pad to move your guy then a nub on the same side to control the camera at the same time is impossible. If there were two nubs or the nub was on the right side it might have worked slightly better but meh. It would have been better to develop the game using the older static overhead camera and planning the level design around that concept.

Anyway I've been dicking around with Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops+ again. I never unlocked Raiden, something I really want to do. I just want to run around as Raiden with the sword and sword things up. Actually I wish the PS3 had an option UMD drive. So you could play PSP games with a dual shock controller. Think along the lines of a Gameboy Player or Super Gameboy. You could just plug in a UMD drive into one of the USB ports. Or they could make the next PSP output to a TV and make it compatable with the Dual Shock 3. That should be entirely possible. I play my handhelds at home the most anyway. The only time I play them away from my bed room is when I'm taking a shit, and I'm sure that's true for most people.

Over the weekend I picked up Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection. Pretty nice collection if you don't have a Sega Genesis hooked up to your tv. I bought it mostly for the first four Phantasy Star games. I figure since Phantasy Star 1 for Master system is $25 bucks on amazon and this game is $30 brand new and has a total of 48 Genesis games I figured it would be worth it. And it is, but that's just because I had a great time playing Streets of Rage 2 with my hot babe girlfriend. Wooo!

Also I just bought a new face place for my PSP, it's got a giant crack down the left side of the screen and it's almost all the way from top to bottom now so it needs to be replaced. After Fixing my Sega CD I've got a new attitude towards reapairing junk hahahaha. I feel slightly useful and capable.

I just beat Sonic CD and man was it great. I've never actually beaten a Sonic game before so this is pretty cool. And it's got a sweet closing credits video and junk. I'm way more interested in playing the other Sonic games I have. So naturally I want to buy more junk. I've always wanted to play Sonic Advenutre on Dreamcast and I don't have Sonic 3 even though I've got 1,2 and Knuckles. Actually I don't have one I've got it on the 6 in 1 cart so I guess it counts but I'd actually rather have the stand alone Sonic cart.

So naturally I'm taking a few days off work and in that spare time I will play many video games. I've been playing Yakuza, great game. I'm a little bummed that Yakuza 3 hasn't been announced for America yet. At least there's no region lock on PS3 games so I could always import it. I don't speak any Japanese though so that sucks. Hopfully it'll have full English subtitles then I wouldn't mind importing it at all. Shit I haven't even played part two yet why am I getting worried about part three? because part one's a great fucking game that's why!

I've been enjoying Yakuza. So much so that I lost a shit load of sleep yesterday from playing this amazing game. I was wow'd when I had to make a choice between paying someone that was attempting to black mail me or saying "fuck you!" I think it's great that fuck you is a selectable option, I think all games should have a fuck you option every time you have a choice to make.

I also got my Virtual Boy in the mail. The picture on that thing is pretty damn crisp. Too bad it failed, I really think the 3D effect is cool. It came with lame old Mario Tennis. Barf, I don't want to swat balls at Yoshi. Ever. I wouldn't mind getting my hands on the Teleroboxer game, I think that's how it's spelled and I'm too lazy to check, and Wario Land. I really liked the first Wario game on Gameboy and actually remember sitting in my Principle's office in like 3rd or 4th grade with my Mom playing Wario Land. I always wanted to play Wario Land 2 and the subsequent Wario Titles. Hell not to long ago I learned there was a Wario platformer on Gamecube, I'd love to check that out. Too bad Wario's got those Wario Ware games. They look like butt.

I just finished Shenmue II. Man I'm pissed. This is chapters 2,3,4 of a 16 part story. Both the games end in huge cliffhangers. The end of Shenmue II introduces magic, not as much as I thought there would be based on crap I've seen on some message boards. The story is just getting started though so I wonder where it was supposed to go from here? I really liked Ren, one of few characters with a decent voice over, and would like to see more of him in some future Shenmue games. They need to remake parts one and two and get on with the series.

I mean I'm glad I've had the chance to experience a great game series, but now I'm one of the angry fans that needs closure! Damn it!

I think I'm going to finish up Metroid Prime next. I know, I keep saying it and keep not doing it hahaha but this time I'm serious.

Damn, Snatcher is one hell of a game. I've fallen in love with this great masterpiece. I've never enjoyed a game of this genere before so I'm really surprised how quickly I've come to love this classic. The story, characters, settings all of it is amazing. Can't get enough. I might play through it twice in a row, at least. Shit I might buy the Konami Justifier and play this on an old TV just to get the full experience. The games that great.

So I went to Wal Mart on the way home from work to see if they had a soldering iron, and they did! So I picked it up and raced home to rip open my Sega CD and see if I could breath life into it once more. I soldered the new fuse in, and put her back together and fired her up. Works great! Awesome! Now I've got this problem with selling things, I hate to part with crap, I'd rather have a back up. But I might sell it after all and buy a few more busted Sega CD's to see if I can repair them. Got a few more fuses to use up after all.

I ordered the fuses on Tuesday morning and they're here by Wednsday afternoon. I wish everything I bought online got here that fast. It's going to be Friday before I try to buy a soldering iron. Shit. I asked the guy that made the video tutorial about soldering shit and he says it's an easy solder and I should just watch some soldering tutorials on youtube and go for it. I've all ready seen how to solder shit so I guess I'm just going to dive in. I'm still gonna shoot my brother a text and see if he's a soldering pro, I vaguely remember him working on electronics in years gone by.

I wish I had my video camera so I could document the process and make a kick ass video of the magic happening. I'm totally going to try to buy and repair as many Sega CD's as I can. Finally something I love possibly making me money isntead of gobbling it all up.

Second Sega Cd arrived in the mail today. Great success! It worked great. Not bad for a $10 investment. So I tested out the game I burned for it, another great success! So after I was done rejoicing I decided to open up the dead Sega CD.

I had come across someone saying they just used some wire to bypass the fuse, so I gave that a shot to see if it would power on. It worked. I didn't try to play a game I just wanted to see if it would power on and it did. So I've got the fuses coming to me and some time this week, probably Friday I'll head over to radio shack to get a soldering iron. Actually I might still ask around first and see if I can find anyone that's soldered small electronics before.

Snatcher is a fantastic game by the way. It's the first time I've ever tried to play a point and click adventure game but it's drawing me in pretty well. The voice acting is also spectacular. I've been turned off by a lot of PSX era games due to horrible voice acting, specifically Silent Hill, so I'm surprised to hear the quality of the voice acting in this game.

I'll probably head to the used game store Friday to pick up some Sega CD games. I saw Wing Commander there and as I loved Wing Commander 3 for the psx I'm curious to try out this game out.

So I got my Sega CD in the mail, the one that came with a Genesis. As I thought the Genesis works great but the Sega CD won't power on. After some googling and youtubing I've discovered that the model two Sega CD has a common problem with one of the fuses.

So I hopped on youtube and typed in Sega CD repair and found just one video that luckily showed which fuse and how to replace it. There was also a conveniant link to a website the sells the correct fuses. There are two variations on where the fuse is located. One is easy to get to and the other requires you to take out the optic drive and circuit board and do a lot of work. Mine's the easy to replace one. Lucky.

I've never done any soldering before so I'm worried about that. I ordered the fuses just a few minutes ago so in the next few days I'm going to ask around and see if anyone I know has done any soldering before. I'm sure my Dad was a pro but he's blind now. Maybe my brother has the needed skills. I don't know. I'm also just thinking about buying a Soldering iron off ebay and doing the damn thing myself. I might be able to find a soldering iron in my garage but then I have to contend with my Dad. He'd need to know why I want to use it, if I've ever used one before and would be up my ass for a week with questions and insist on watching me do the repair work breathing down my neck and bugging the shit out of me making me 100 times more likely to screw up.

One of my Sega CD's came in the mail today, the one with the Genesis. The Genesis works fine like I assumed it would. The Sega CD, not so lucky. When I get home from work I'm going to open it up and clean it out and see if I can spot anything obviously wrong. I'm no electronic genius wiz so I'm not expecting much but oh well. If it doesn't work I'm going to sell it for parts and such. Lets hope I have more luck with the next Sega CD that shows up. I wonder what the mail man will bring me tomorrow?

I made my first deal off of Craigslist.org. I got a Sega Dreamcast with all the wires, a controller, a VMU and a copy of Crazy Taxi. All for $20! In the morning I'm getting another Dreamcast and Playstation 1 for $15 from some other dude and then I'm getting a Game Gear for $35 with six games. Also cool! Great local finds. Meeting people of Craigslist for anything other than freaky sex is weird but it worked out the first time and I'm sure it'll work great in the morning.

I want to get a back up Dreamcast because mine acts up when playing Shenmue, it might be the DC so I want to experient then find out. Then I'll sell the lesser of the three along with the playstation. I should make back $45.

Man seriously I don't know whats come over me. My ebay raid this week is out of control! Right now in the mail on it's way to me I have the following:

Two untested Sega CDs one with Model 2 genesis
Neogeo Pocket Color with two games
Turbografx 16 w/ arcade stick and two games
A Sega Master System game
A gaming related book

Also I'm still bidding on a few things. I'm the only bidder on a 3do whcih I also really want, I'm bidding on a Virtual boy which I'm sure I'll lose that auction and am kind of hoping too (I'll take it if I win it for $20 bucks) and a PSP game. Such a poor financial decision seeing as I'll be getting laid off in two weeks! OH NO. I have to buy a digital video camera for a top secret investment that I'm gambling on saving me! Its a plan so stupid it can't possibly fail, but you know, shit.

Also I just wanted to put this link somewhere I'll see it later so I don't forget about it. It's a great site with downloadable replacement cover art. I'm mainly interested in it for DVD covers for Metal Gear Solid since the original case crapped out on me. Also there's a few Sega Saturn covers in there worth looking at. http://www.thecoverproject.net

I need a storage solution for my games and my consoles. Especially if I win some of the shit I'm bidding on on ebay. I've all ready ran out of room. I've got like 5-10 games with no where to go and my Atari 7800 is kind of on the floor and the intellivision is over in the corner under some junk! I'm going to have to move my Dreamcasr when my Sega Cd gets here. I've got too much shit. I need two houses to store my game collection. At least I'e got all my systems hooked up to my TV at once.

I really want the 3DO and Neogeo Pocket and also bid on a Virtual Boy but I'm kind of hoping I don't win that. I'm sure I won't win any of them but I really want the 3DO. I don't know why really.

Still working on Shenmue II. I want to finish it up. It seems to be holding my attention more than any other game I have. My hot babe girlfriend bought me Little Big Planet for my birthday because she's awesome and totally loves me and shit. Can't go wrong with that. I also bought Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic for my good ole Xbox.

Last week I spent my found $10 dollars at the used game store. I found Shinobi for Sega Master System, Rocket Knight Adventures for Sega Genesis and got Asteroids for Atari 2600. Spent $15 total. Not too bad I guess. Shinobi is definitely one of the Master Systems must own games so I couldn't pass it up. also seeing the Happy Video Game Nerds video for Rocket Knight I just had to pick that up. Both very awesome Sega games.

I won two, untested mind you, Sega Cd's on ebay. One of them comes with a Model 2 Genesis which I'm sure will work no problem as most Cart based systems are indestructable under normal conditions. I'm also bidding on two virtual boys, which I was just outbid while writing this blog past, and a 3DO. The biggest factor behind my desire for a Sega CD is there's no copy protection so burning games is a sinch! Same goes for the 3do. Good times ahead I predict. I really would love to play Snatchers for Sega CD as it's the only American release of the game and knowing I can just burn it makes it a lot more appealing. The game goes for like $100 plus on Amazon without the case even. Silly Kojima fans!

I'm thinking about making a retro gaming podcast. I'd like to have a co-host for that project but none of my friends play games! My work friends all play games although one of them's a lot younger than I am and doesn't really know shit about anything before the n64, playstation and Saturn days. Plus they all live far as fuck away and none of them have as many systems as I do, but then again who does?

I really shouldn't be buying all this ebay shit but I have an addiction. I'm so geeked about games all of a sudden and I don't know why. Maybe it's just because I missed out on all of this greatness when I was growing up. but in like two weeks I'm getting laid off. I'm getting a huge check out of it but you know won't have any steady income. Oh well. Live every day like it's your last...which I interperate to mean make poor financial decisions as the economy tanks. At least I'm having fun wile I've still got the electricity turned on. Right? .......RIGHT?!